Jan 10, 2012: Tofu Tuesday - Salt and Pepper Tofu

It's been awhile since I've had a Tofu Tuesday, but this one is inspired by a dish I had at a local restaurant - Salt and Pepper tofu.

The salt and pepper tofu was deep fried with a flavorful salt and pepper coating. The center of the tofu cubes were soft and custard-like.

This is my attempt at recreating the dish.
I opted to use medium firm tofu since firm would not give a custard consistency while silken may not hold up to the handling.

Salt and Pepper Tofu
1 Block of Tofu, medium firm, cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 T Cornstarch
1/2 t Salt
1/4 t White Pepper
1/4 t Black Pepper
Scant 1/4 t Sichuan Peppercorn, toasted and ground.
1/4 C oil for frying

Garnish
1 Green Onion, coarse chop
1/2 Serrano Pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
a few sprigs Cilantro

Directions
1) Mix salt and peppers in a bag
2) Add tofu to bag to coat
3) Heat oil and pan fry over medium heat until nicely browned on all sides
4) Drain browned cubes on a paper towel.
5) Pour out oil from the pan, leaving about 1 T.
6) Fry the garlic, green onion and Serrano for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
7) Add tofu and mix together
8) Plate and garnish with cilantro

My YouTube Video of the effort.

Aug 31, 2010: Tofu Tueday - Savory Tofu Flower

It's Tuesday and time for another installment of Tofu Tuesday!

The new ingredient for today is Pickled Mustard Tuber.
The ingredients for this brand include Fermented Mustard Tuber, MSG, Salt, Chili, Sugar, Fennel, Licorice, Acesulfame Potassium, Sesame oil and Disodium this and that.


According to the package the pickled mustard tuber can be eaten as is.

The pickled mustard tuber is salty and crunchy. There's not mustard flavor nor is there any tartness from the pickling. You can taste the MSG, sugar and a faint bit of spiciness, not much though.


Today's tofu recipe is really easy to make.
It's a Sichuan-style Tofu flower. I'm familiar with the sweet version of this and didn't even know there was a savory version.

Recipe is from "Land of Plenty"
Flower Bean Curd

2- 10 oz packages Silken Tofu [I used a 16 oz package]

Seasoning
1 T Soy Sauce
1 T Chili Oil with Flakes
1 t Sesame Oil
up to 1 t Sichuan Pepper, roasted and ground [I forgot this ingredient. The result was still delicious. :-) ]
2 T Peanuts, unsalted, roasted and coarsely chopped
2 T Preserved Mustard Tuber, finely chopped
4 Green Onions, green part cut into rings.

Directions:
1) Soak the whole block of silken tofu in boiling hot lightly-salted water. I simmered a couple minutes and allowed to sit a few more to heat through. [The original recipe calls for parsing out into individual bowls, but I opted to serve family style.]

2) Drain and top with the seasonings. How simple is that? Very!


3) Serve by scooping as much as you like... making sure you take a bit of the topping with each scoop. :-)


I enjoy savory foods. The soft custardy tofu is flavored with sesame oil, green onions, chili paste, mustard tuber and crunchy peanuts.

This was eaten with rice and made for a very simple flavorful Tofu Tuesday.

Aug 17, 2010: Tofu Tuesday

Things have been busy so I haven't had much blogging time, but it's time for another edition of Tofu Tuesday.

I've been fascinated with the cookbook "Land of Plenty" by Fuchsia Dunlop. I've never had Sichuan cuisine, at least not that I know of, but the recipes I've tried in this book have been flavorful and not overwhelmingly spicy hot. I also enjoy the author presenting authentic recipes that haven't been rewritten (read: toned down) for a Western audience.

Today's recipe is "Fish-Fragrant Bean Curd". There's no fish in it, but in Chinese cooking (at least in Cantonese cookin, which is what I'm familiar with) Fish is usually cooked with garlic, ginger and green onions. Since this is a Sichuanese cookbook, the addition of pickled chili peppers is added to give the tofu a fish frangrance.

Fish-Fragrant Bean Curd
3 T Peanut Oil [I used 2 T Canola Oil]
1 T Ginger, finely chopped
1 T Garlic, finely chopped
3 Scallions, white part cut at a steep diagonal
2 T Pickled Chili Paste
8 oz Deep Fried Bean Curd [I had firm tofu so I pan-fried until crispy]
3/4 C Stock [I used chicken buillon]
2 T Soy Sauce
1 t sugar
1/4 t salt [I left the salt out since I used buillon]
Green onion tops for garnish, sliced.

The fish fragrant flavors - starting on the right going left:
Minced garlic and ginger; Green Onion and Pickled Chilies.
This is my first time using pickled chilies so I didn't know what to expect. Tasting them as-is, I taste a salty, slightly tangy chili. The heat is really mild.


Since I didn't have deep fried bean curd, I pan-fried the tofu in a non-stick pan with about 1 or 2 T of oil. Flipping to ensure even browning.


Onto the recipe:

1) Heat the 3 (or 2) T of oil until smoking. Add the garlic, ginger and chilies and saute to release the flavors, about 1 minute. The pepper while mild did get me coughing a little.


2) Add the rest of the ingredients - tofu, stock, soy sauce and sugar.
Turn down the heat to simmer and allow the moisture to evaporate.
With all of the moisture evaporated, the tofu will sizzle again.
Optional: at this point I added the green onion tops to cook for a minute.


The Finished Dish served family style.


A simple dish with a lot of flavor. The chilies did not add a lot of heat, but their presence was a subtle and flavorful. By allowing the stock to reduce, the tofu obtained a light glaze from the reduction.

Overall, a delicious dish.

I served with brown rice and steamed Nappa cabbage, which is typical of a Chinese meal.
Flavor centerpiece dish with vegetables served on the side... All meant to flavor the brown rice.

Jun 15, 2010: Tofu Tuesday - LOP Mapo Tofu

I'm familiar with Cantonese cooking. I wanted to expand my Chinese cooking horizons. I found a book in the library Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop. I abbreviated the title of the book as, "LOP".

Sichuanese cooking has a reputation of being loaded with peppers and spicy. Spicy food sounds good to me!

So for Tofu Tuesday, I made the classic dish, Mapo Tofu.

Mapo Tofu
Ingredients:
1 block bean curd (around 16 oz), cut into 1 in cubes
2 Leeks, cut into thin diagonal slices
1/2 cup peanut oil [Yes, that's half a cup!]
6 ounces ground beef [I used chicken]
2.5 Tbsp chili bean paste
1 Tbsp fermented black beans
2 tsp ground Sichuanese chiles (optional) [I used Japanese Chiles]
1 cup stock
1 tsp white sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
4 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 6 Tbsp cold water [I only used about 1 T of the slurry]
1/2 tsp roasted Sichuan peppercorn, ground

Directions
1) Soak the tofu cubes in salted boiling water. That's salted water brought to a boil... Soak time was about 20 minutes while I prepped the other ingredients.



2. The recipe called for beef, but chicken breast was at 1/3rd of the cost.
Chicken was cooked in the 1/2 C of oil at medium heat.


3. After the chicken has browned, add the chili paste, chili flakes, black beans. Cook until fragrant.


4. Add the drained tofu, stock and let simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes... to allow the flavors infuse into the tofu. Add the leeks and continue cooking another 5 minutes. Thicken with the cornstarch mixture.


5. Garnish with the ground peppercorn.


Restaurant Sichuan food is much more spicier. However, this version gives a nice tingle to the lips and the fermented black beans offers a nice complement.

The red oil bathing the dish seemed a bit much. Based upon the amount of oil left in the dish, I could probably cut the oil by 2/3rds. Would it effect the dish?

Overall, a good dish.

May 25, 2010: Tofu Tuesday - Ginger Tofu Fa

After the last Tofu Tuesday's Mango Pudding, I wanted to make another sweet tofu dish.

The best tofu for this dish is silken tofu.

The following is my improvised recipe. Trying to keep it simple:

Silken Tofu in Ginger Syrup

1 lb Silken Tofu
1 C Water
1 11 oz Can Mandarin Oranges, drained with juices reserved
1 Chunk Ginger
1/4 C Sugar
3 Slices Candied Ginger, Julienned

1) 1 Cup of water and the drained syrup from the oranges gave me 1 1/2 C of liquid.


2) Peel and slice the ginger.
I picked up a tip on skinning ginger from all the cooking shows I watch.
Instead of using a vegetable peeler, you can use a spoon to scrape off the skin, which worked very well.


3) Simmer the tofu, sliced fresh ginger, liquid and sugar for about 20-30 minutes. Flip the tofu block after 10 to 15 minutes.

When done, I strained out the fresh ginger and chilled the tofu and syrup.


4) The chilled tofu fa was sliced and mixed with the oranges.
Garnished with the candied ginger.



The finished dish...
Slightly sweet and mildly gingery.
You can still taste the tofu, which is fine by me. I don't like overly sweet desserts.
However, if you want a stronger syrup, the sugar can be increased to suit your preferences.

I think this is a nice refreshing dish best served cold. :-)

May 04, 2010: Tofu Tuesday Mango

Today's dish, Mango Pudding, is actually not tofu, but a gelatin dessert that looks like tofu.

In Cantonese, it's called "Mango Tofu Fa." Tofu fa (literally: Tofu flower) is usually made with silken tofu served in a light sugar syrup. However, I've heard this referred to as "mango fa" [mango flower], "mango tofu fa" and, according to wikipedia, "mango bo'ding' [phonetic Cantonese pronunciation of mango pudding].

The recipe is loosely based upon Dim Sum by Ellen Leong Blonder

Original Recipe
1/2 C water
2 Envelopes (2T) Unflavored Gelatin
1 1/4 C Sugar
2 Mangoes
1 C half & half
1 3/4 C boiling water

Why I did something different...
Well, I'm on this kick about making stuff with unflavored gelatin, like Panna Cotta, but worried that I'll end up with gummi bears instead of a delicate dessert. Of course, I decide to make mango pudding when mangoes are out of season where I could only find frozen mangoes.



Hmmm.... not much mango flavor here. It's the best I have at the moment.


My version is sort of a hybrid between mango pudding and panna cotta where I use a ratio of 3 cups of fluid for every 1 pack of gelatin.

1/2 C water
2 Envelopes (2T) Unflavored Gelatin
1 1/2 lbf Frozen Mangoes
2 C Heavy Cream [That's what I had in the refrigerator]
2 C Water
6 T Whole Milk Powder
3/4 C Sugar [or more to taste]

1. Bloom the gelatin in 1/2 C water.

2. Combine the mango, heavy cream, water and milk powder and blend into a smooth shake.


3. Strained the mango shake to get rid of any strings.


4. Over low heat, added 3/4 C of sugar. I generally add half the sugar in a recipe and add more as needed to taste.


5. Add the gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved.


6. Pour into a baking dish, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
Cut into cubes before serving.


The mango pudding.

The mango flavor was rather mild. In fact, it tasted more like pear pudding than mango.


I should have just made a 3 cup batch with 1 envelope of gelatin. Also, talking with a coworker, he believes mango pudding is typically made with yellow Manila mangoes instead of the Tommy Atkins mango found in US supermarkets.

I'll have to try again when mangoes are in season. Also, I'll follow the recipe a lot closer. :-)

Apr 06, 2010: Tofu Tuesday Hodge Podge

Today, is a hodge podge recipe... looking to make something quick and healthy plus I have frozen shrimp scampi in the freezer and leftover ham from Easter.

Tofu Hodge Podge
1 lbf Firm Tofu, cubed
3 Green Onions, sliced
1 Carrot, diagonal sliced
1/2 C Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Stalk of Celery, diced
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 C Ham, mined
Frozen Shrimp Scampi
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Egg Noodles


As usual with firm tofu, I like to pan fry with salt and pepper to brown and crisp up the tofu.



Add the rest of the ingredients, give a quick mix and cover to cook.


Serve over noodles (or rice). Salt and pepper to taste.


Quick, simple and fairly good. It's not 3-Star Michelin, but it does hit the spot.

Mar 16, 2010: Tofu Tuesday Allium Pork

Guess what today is? Tuesday!
What do we do on Tuesday? Cook some tofu!

I did a little pre-spring cleaning where I cleaned out the pantry and the refrigerator.
My discoveries my refrigerator had a selection of allium. Leeks, Chinese Chives, Green Onions and Garlic.

Also found was an assortment of Chinese bean sauces. Hoisin sauce, Szechuan Hot Bean Paste and plain Bean Paste.

Not one for wasting ingredients, I improvised a recipe using a portion of fresh ham and, of course, tofu.

Allium Braised Pork with Tofu
2 C Leek, coarse chop and cleaned
1 C Chinese Chives, coarse chop
1/2 C Green Onion, coarse chop
3 Cloves Garlic, smacked with a knife
4 or 5 Ginger slices
2 T Szechuan Hot Bean Paste
1 T Bean Paste
1 T Hoisin Sauce
1 Piece of Rock Sugar
1/2 C Soy Sauce, Regular
1 lb Firm Tofu, cubed
1 to 2 C of stock or water

My mise en place.
The allium. The garlic is in there somewhere hiding.


The bean sauces. The Szechuan hot bean paste (aka Chile Bean Sauce) has a pleasant level of heat with a miso-like aftertaste. This is my first time using this stuff.


Cuved Tofu... ready to go!


Directions:
1) As with a beef pot roast, I browned the pork on all sides in the dutch oven.
Remove when browned.


2) Another find in my refrigerator, about 1/2 C of diced pancetta.
Lightly cooked to release it's fat. Added the allium to sweat.


3) After sweating the alliums, the rest of the ingredients go in to mix.


4) The pork and soy sauce is added. Additional stock is used to raise the liquid level about 1/2 to 3/4 the way up the pork.


5) Finally the tofu cubes are added.


6) There are many ways to cook this dish, but the objective is to slowly simmer the mixture for a few hours. This can be done on the stove top or in the oven.

I went the oven route. The entire pot was placed in the 250F oven for 3 hours.

The results after 3 hours. The pork is falling off the bone and the tofu absorbed the flavors of the braising liquid.



Serving:
The braised pork is pulled off the bone and shredded.

Instead of rice... I'm a little burned out on rice, especially after the Risotto challenge.

I opted to serve over noodles.
The noodles are cooked and drained.
While still hot, shredded cabbage and carrots are added plus a 1/2 t of toasted sesame oil.
The residual heat will cook the shredded veggies.


The mixture is spooned over the noodles and served family style.


Bean paste has a miso-like flavoring. The hot bean paste mellowed but still had a little kick. The tofu absorbed a lot of the flavorful liquids.

This all made for a delicious meal.

Changes I would make the next time around... a little less soy sauce and more sugar.

Mar 02, 2010: Tofu Tuesday Taco Filling

This week I'm using fried tofu is used as a extender for ground beef tacos.

The advantage of tofu is protein content. Three ounces of the fried tofu provides 24 g of protein with 14 g of fat, while three ounces of 85/15 ground beef provides 16 g protein and 14 g of fat.

Ingredients
6 oz Fried Tofu (minced)
2 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Onion, diced
1.5 lbs 85/15 Ground Beef
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
0.75 C Chicken Stock or Water

Fried tofu seemed to be a logical choice for for tacos.


Used a food processor to mince the tofu.


Saute the garlic and onion with the tofu. Since tofu is a little bland, the onions should impart some flavor.


After a minute, add the ground beef and break apart while cooking.


After 5 to 10 minutes, add the taco seasoning and stock.
Note: After much experimentation with trying to make my own blend of taco seasoning, I found the package stuff to be better and more convenient.

Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.


The Dish
I kept dinner rather simple.. rice cooked with Goya Cilantro and Achiote (annatto) seasoning and canned beans.

Ground beef burrito... rice, beans, taco filling, salsa and cheese.


Extra rice and beans on the side. A relatively quick dinner with plenty of leftovers for lunch.

Feb 23, 2010: Tofu Tuesday Silky Smooth

Welcome to the third edition of Tofu Tuesday!

Today's tofu of choice is silken tofu, which is sometimes referred to as Japanese style tofu.

Silken tofu is a soft, custard-like tofu that is often used in soups. Also, some vegetarians use mashed silken tofu as a replacement for mayo or sour cream.

For today, I'm improvising a soup using silken tofu. No recipe just flying by the seat of my pants. I do that sometimes since I am a wild and crazy guy. lol!

Started with homemade chicken broth and vegetables. Nappa cabbage, frozen peas and frozen corn, plus sliced green onions for added flavor.

Bring it all to a boil and add cubed tofu.

Earlier I had mixed some cold cooked rice with a little salt and sesame seed oil.

Baked in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. I'm trying to make sizzling rice soup without having to deep fry the rice.

The rice came out dried, but will it sizzle when added to the soup?

No. No sizzling from the rice, but the rice rehydrated in the soup and added a little nuttiness.
The silken tofu gave a pleasant smooth bite to the soup. A nice contrast to the rest of the soup.
Hurray for improvising! :-)